Like many fashion bloggers I have always dreamed of attending the global fashion week’s……. London, Paris, New York and Milan, and now for one night only Milan is coming to Belfast as luxury Italian design house MaxMara will be transporting their full Spring/Summer 2017 collection to Belfast for a very special show!!

Save the date ladies as on 10th March MaxMara's Bo Bardi, tropical inspired collection will be showcased at Belfast City Hall and believe me it is a show not to be missed.

What sets this show apart from any other here in N. Ireland is that it features the full MaxMara SS17 catwalk collection. As many of you will know not all catwalk samples necessarily make it into production so this is a rare opportunity to see all 43 looks from the original Milan show!

The show will be in support of leading learning disability charity Positive Futures, and will be hosted by kind permission of the Right Hon the Lord Mayor Alderman Brian Kingston in the beautiful surroundings of Belfast City Hall.

The collection when it debuted at Milan was an eclectic mix of Tropicana and sports luxe, inspired by Tropicalia, an avant-grade cultural movement and Italian born architect Lina Bo Bardi, whose architectural designs in Brazil were both modern in look but yet perfectly complimented the Brazilian rainforest landscape in which they were situated.

Think of a modernist mix of opulent colours, cobalt blues, vibrant yellows and fiery orange in slick miminalist spots luxe designs juxtaposed with oversized jumpers in maximalist tropical prints and you will have an idea of what to expect from this collection.

Slick workwear and elegant pencil skirts are also present alongside the recurrent influence of the Brazillian rainforest through their use of their striking palmtree prints worked into hooded jackets, bodysuits and fabulous leggings!

It is an incredible collection which embraces a modern look at Tropicana at it’s best, inspired by Bo Bardi’s landmark architectural and interior designs, creating a collection which is both visually striking but equally embracing of a modern take on Athleisure.

I don't want to give too much away about the collection but suffice to say audience members are in for a spectacular fashion experience! Not only will audience members be privy to MaxMara’s catwalk looks, but make up for the show will be by Charlotte Tilbury with hair by international session stylist Richard Phillipart for Bayliss!

Nina Walls, owner of MaxMara’s Belfast store commented: “The fashion on show will be inspired by architect, designer and intellectual Lina Bo Bardi in a fusion of creative, radical, passion. Bo Bardi was a woman with a vision years ahead of her time who embodied Latin America’s compelling take on modernism; at once rational and sensual, sleek and luxuriant,athletic and sultry, hi-tech and artisanal.

“For modern women with big ideas, the MaxMara Spring Summer 2017 collection proposes a new blend of voluptuous modernity - intelligent, audacious, sexy fashion with a lifespan as long as Bo Bardi’s designs.”

Tickets are currently available online from www.positive-futures.net. Standard tickets are priced at £35 per person and include a pre-show drinks and canapé reception in the Rotunda of City Hall, accompanied by music by the Ulster Orchestra. The show itself will take place in the Great Hall, and your ticket also entitles you to be entered into their fashion show ballot.

A VIP experience is also available at £75 per person which includes a luxury Champagne and canapé reception in their VIP room. Guests will then be escorted to their FROW seats up close to the action, a must for any fashion lover! Tickets also include entry to the ballot which includes fabulous prizes kindly donated by MaxMara and other corporate sponsors!

I for one cannot wait to experience a catwalk show in the truest sense, featuring looks which members of the general public rarely have the opportunity to see! It is so refreshing to see a luxury designer brand wanting to stage a show like this in Northern Ireland and I for one cannot wait!

Charity Positive Futures operates across Northern Ireland and provides support to people with a learning disability, acquired brain injury or autistic spectrum condition, and their carers.

Massive thanks to Cathy Martin CMPR for providing event details and catwalk imagery!